Odyssey

a Torchwood crossover story

by RoadrunnerGER

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the related shows. I just love to play with their characters.

Summary: Abducted away from Earth and sold into slavery Team Torchwood has to fight for survival. Being left behind Tosh works with the Stargate team, going on a frantic odyssey across the universe in order to save her friends. Crossover, set s2

Chapter 7

Ianto was surprised that he had fallen asleep, but there was no mistaking as he clearly was startled awake by the people around him. Once more he found himself in Jack's arms, but after a quick kiss on the cheek and a murmured excuse Jack abandoned him and stood up.

There was something going on at the end of the aisle. The men and women stepped to the front of the cages, straining to see whatever was coming.

As Jack got up Ianto could not help but admire him. He still wore his greatcoat that swished slightly as Jack joined the others, but there was something else about him that made him different from the other people and Ianto wondered what it might be. He was not as dirty as the others and not that ruffled. That's not it, though, Ianto thought. It's more subtle than that. Probably has something to do with his origin or the experiences he's had. He, hmm, can that be? He doesn't look so lost. Could that be his leadership qualities?

Being the only one left who was still sitting Ianto felt strangely out of place and so he got up as well, following Jack. His partner turned his head to look at him and murmured, "Stand back."

"Why?" Ianto asked.

"Because I'm telling you to," Jack hissed and held him off by arm's length. "You'll see why."

Ianto was confused, but did as he was told, trusting Jack implicitly.

At first Ianto did not know what the commotion was about, but then he saw them coming up the aisle. There were two of them, probably male, about seven feet tall, with dark tanned but slightly yellowish skin and fir-green eyes that looked at the captives indifferently. At first sight they could pass for humans, even though they were tall, but what gave them away were shocks of long dark purple hair and a bone ridge across their foreheads, prolonging the nose.

Their fingers are long, very long, Ianto thought. And that bone ridge makes them resemble those Klingons from Star Trek. Inwardly he chuckled at the comparison. I shouldn't laugh. This is very real, the Tebr'ox's features not the work of make-up artists. Actually, their bone ridges don't fan out like that of Klingons but only a ridge in the middle, like the nose guard of an old helm.

One of the Tebr'ox was shoving a wheelbarrow, a bucket hanging from one of the handles. The other one held a hose.

"What are they going to do?" Ianto asked.

"Sh," Jack said. "Let me deal with it."

"But…"

"Sh!"

So Ianto made a reluctant step back. Still he could not help but watch as the two Tebr'ox as Jack had called them came closer. They stopped in the middle of the aisle, the one with the hose opening the tap and splashing the people in the cage. He also washed the ground before he reduced the pressure and filled the bucket with water. His companion then filled his bucket with what he had in his barrow and threw the content into the cage.

"What are they doing?" Ianto whispered.

"Sh!" Jack hissed. "They're feeding the people."

"Wha…?"

Ianto was thunderstruck. They're treating us like animals! Oh, my God!

Now it made sense. The lack of sanitary installations made washing out the cells necessary. The realization what they had to do to relieve themselves made Ianto sick. The forced closeness to the other people already was hard to stand. Ianto shuddered with the thought of having to expose himself if he wanted to urinate or defecate. And having to pick up the food off the ground… Ianto winced at the idea.

Slowly the two men approached. Soon they would reach Ianto's cage. The Welshman was not looking forward to it. Even though it meant getting food and water it also meant violence. Ianto saw it in the other cages. The men and women struggled to stay out of the way of the water and fought about the food.

Ianto wondered what Jack wanted to do. Why did he push me away?

When the Tebr'ox reached their cage and the water splashed into it Jack suddenly was between the bars and Ianto. Still he could not prevent that they both got soaked from head to toe. Then the second man came with the bucket and threw the food in.

"Stop!" Jack hissed as the men rushed forward.

Miraculously they froze on the spot. They looked at Jack expectantly who towered over them, arms crossed, legs spread, head raised, and looked down at them.

"Slowly," he said. "And in order. We don't want to hurt each other, right?"

It was inexplicable, but they slowly picked up the pieces of food… and left some of the best bits behind.

"Gant!" one of the Tebr'ox shouted, banging against the bars with a heavy stick he had carried on his belt.

The men shied back from him. As he stepped back from the bars Ianto noticed with surprise that Jack almost jumped away from the stick. He even ducked slightly. As soon as the Tebr'ox went to the next cage, though, the captain straightened up, displaying his full authority.

"It's okay," he said. "Thank you." And he picked up the food and returned to Ianto. "I'm sorry," he murmured, his eyes filled with compassion.

"What for?" Ianto asked, brushing his wet hair back.

"Couldn't keep you from…"

"Stop it!" Ianto cut him short. "There was no way you could've done anything. Just…" he took him by the lapels of his greatcoat and pulled him closer, "how did you make the others behave?"

"Well, we… had a situation before," Jack told him. "I taught them not to mess with me."

"What happened?"

"Someone was too curious, trying to take my wrist strap," Jack murmured to him.

"Ouch." Ianto could imagine that Jack became quite intimidating in that moment. No one, not even he, Ianto, was allowed to take Jack's wrist strap.

"It wouldn't be so good to show my authority over the others to the Tebr'ox, though."

"Why not?"

"I don't want them to separate us, Yan," Jack whispered, his lips brushing against the Welshman's cheek. "We have to stay together."

"Don't mind that plan," Ianto mumbled into Jack's hair. "What do you have there?"

"Hm?"

"The food."

"No idea," Jack admitted. "But it doesn't look that bad." He made a step back and held it out for Ianto to choose. "Or should I taste it first?" he offered.

"Nah," Ianto refused and bravely took something that looked like a slice of melon. "I don't think that they want to starve us."

"Yeah… they just don't care if we get enough food."

"It'll have to suffice," Ianto said and took a hesitant bite. Chewing carefully he decided that it was edible. "It isn't that bad."

Jack looked at him with a strange mixture of sorrow and pride.

"I'm sorry," Jack rasped and wrapped his arms around Ianto. "I'm so sorry."

"Jack?" The sudden display of emotion made Ianto nervous.

"I knew who they were when they uncloaked the ships. I should've defended you, should've kept you safe. I'm so sorry that I couldn't."

"It's okay, Jack," Ianto murmured, hugging Jack in return.

"It's not," Jack almost whined. "I'm so sorry."

Together they sank down on the ground, still wrapped up in a tight embrace. So they sat and gave each other comfort while slowly silence settled over the cargo bay after the Tebr'ox had left.

xXx

Later Toshiko waited on Declan's call. She looked over to the rec area where Rhys and the constable were fast asleep on the sofa and easy chair. They had talked themselves to sleep while she continued to search her computer.

Every now and then she glanced at Jack's office. She knew that some answers might be hidden in there as well as a lot more questions.

Then she did a double take. There it was, the picture of one of those creatures.

"They're called Tebr'ox," she murmured to herself. "Never heard of them before." The picture in the file was hand drawn, but she still was sure it was them. Unfortunately, though, there was no home planet mentioned in the file. "Maybe Jack entered them into the database. He must know a lot of people from all over the universe."

Once more she looked at Jack's sanctum.

"He wouldn't mind, would he?" she wondered. Taking a deep breath she got up and marched over to the office. Carefully she put her hand on the handle and felt like an intruder when she slowly stepped over the threshold. She had been in this office so often, but this was different. It was different because Jack was not there.

Now she stood in the familiar office and asked herself where to search first. She walked around the desk and opened the drawers. There was nothing like a notebook or something where Jack kept his contact information.

Why do I assume that it is something he has written down? It could be some alien artefact that allows communication across space.

For a second she was tempted to sit down in Jack's office chair, but even the idea chased chills down her spine. Slowly she let her gaze drift over the tabletop. All the knick-knacks she hardly paid attention to while he was still present appeared so strange now that he was gone. The most interesting item was a piece of coral. It was pretty and Toshiko wondered why she never really noticed it before.

Admiring the coral did not help her, though.

What could be a communication device? Where could he have hidden information about his mysterious friend?

The ringing of her phone led her back out to her workstation. She hurried to her desk and dropped into her chair.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Toshiko," Declan Stoat said. "I made some arrangements for you."

"Arrangements?" Toshiko asked. "I thought you'd give me some information."

"I don't have information. I have people who could probably help. Your flight leaves Cardiff airport at 06:30 am."

"Flight?" she gasped. "I don't think that I can leave…"

"You should arrange something, because you're going to Washington."

"You mean as in Washington D.C.?" Toshiko prodded. "What am I supposed to do in America?"

"You're searching for someone who can help you get your colleagues back, right?" Declan demanded to know. "Well, then you're going to Washington."

"To do what?"

"Someone will pick you up," Declan said.

"Who?"

"I can't tell you more, Tosh," Declan insisted. "I'm skating on thin ice already. You'll get your tickets at the terminal. Good luck."

And before Toshiko could argue he had disconnected.

"Washington?" Rhys startled her. She had not noticed that he stood behind her.

"Obviously," she replied. "Declan wouldn't give me any names so the only way to find out if this lead is promising is to go there."

"And what will we do?" Rhys asked. "What will happen with the Hub? What about the Rift?"

That's a good question. Toshiko drew a blank at first, then she grasped the first idea she had. "I'll call Archie. I wonder what he's doing up there in Glasgow anyway."

"Great. And what about Andy and me?"

"You could help Archie. You know some of the Hub and I'll show you where you find the food for Myfanwy and how to feed her. Same goes for Janet. Andy?" she shouted, waking the young constable. "Andy, you'll help Rhys. C'mon! I'll have to show you a lot before I go."

"Go?"

"And don't expect me to be back soon."

The two men looked at each other sheepishly. They both had wanted to be a part of Torchwood in some way, but this was going a bit too far and too fast for their liking. Rhys already saw himself running after weevils and other flotsam and jetsam that washed through the Rift and by the look on Andy's face the police officer harboured similar thoughts.

Toshiko was determined, though. Once she made the decision there was no turning back. She would rescue her team, no matter what she had to do.

xXx

Gwen brushed her wet hair back. It was drying slowly because it was warm but pretty humid in the cargo bay. She had managed to get some sort of fruit when the Tebr'ox fed their prisoners. It was unidentifiable. For a moment Gwen wondered how it was usually eaten before she tentatively bit into it. The taste was all right and the skin seemed to be edible. In the end there was just a little core left. There was nowhere to dispose of it, so she left it on the floor beside her. Now she understood even better why the Tebr'ox washed out the cells with a hose.

Behind her Owen shifted his position on the other side of the bars.

"How are you?" she asked without turning her head.

"Hungry," Owen growled. He also had managed to catch some food, but it was not enough to satisfy him.

"When aren't you hungry?" she teased and got elbowed. "Hey!"

"This is not the time for stupid jokes," Owen snarled.

"Sorry, Owen." Gwen really was sorry. The teasing just slipped off her tongue so easily. Good natured mocking was normal in their work relationship.

"Yeah, yeah," Owen said. "Just reign in your weird sense of humour. Nothing here is funny."

"I wasn't…"

"Just keep your mouth shut for a while," Owen suggested. "Do us all the favour, will you?"

Gwen pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. She wanted to argue, but she did not know what to say. Whatever she wanted to say appeared to be of no relevance given where they were and how they were held captive. Not for the first time she wondered why the Tebr'ox caught so many people anyway. What was the purpose? Were they food for them? Probably.

Right now she did not want to keep thinking. She was tired. Sighing Gwen tried to find a more comfortable position to rest.

tbc…